Breaking point?

Future cloudy for both Grossman, Bears brass

As rain and gloomy skies swamped the area for much of Saturday, the Bears tried to find the sun behind the clouds.

Forgive the metaphor, but the franchise is wrestling with such lofty philosophical issues now that quarterback Rex Grossman has been lost for three to four months with a broken left ankle.

How the Bears react to Grossman's injury will speak volumes about his long-term future with the organization, and those decisions also could affect the futures of front-office personnel, namely general manager Jerry Angelo.

As team officials wrestle with questions--fair or not--about Grossman's durability, they must ask themselves: Can the franchise afford to wait through another rehabilitation to see what it has in Grossman? Or do they try a new plan for the future?

Those questions will be answered, in part, this week, when the Bears are expected to bring in a veteran free agent for a tryout, a departure from Angelo and coach Lovie Smith's assertions from late Friday that they are content with backups Chad Hutchinson and rookie Kyle Orton.

Shaun King, Jeff Blake, Vinny Testaverde and Brock Huard are some of the possibilities, as is Pittsburgh backup Tommy Maddox via trade.

While there is belief within the organization that Hutchinson and Orton have soaked up offensive coordinator Ron Turner's system well, three remaining exhibition games give the Bears an opportunity to measure a newcomer against those already in the system.

Backups like Cincinnati's Jon Kitna, Atlanta's Matt Schaub and Arizona's Josh McCown are either unavailable, would cost too much in a trade or don't pique the Bears' interest. They are looking for an intelligent player who can learn quickly.

"I think I can help them," Blake said from his home in Texas. "I've played a lot of football and am a fast learner."

Grossman, meanwhile, will undergo surgery Monday afternoon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the results of which will be closely monitored as Angelo considers whether to place the third-year quarterback on injured reserve.

As of Saturday, talk within the organization leaned toward not placing Grossman on injured reserve.

If Grossman returns in three months, he could play in eight games. If his recovery takes four, he likely would miss 13 games.

The Bears haven't had one quarterback start all 16 games since Erik Kramer in 1995 and have used at least three at that position in six of the last seven seasons, including four in 2004.

Such doomsday facts are why chat rooms and talk radio burned with questions about why Angelo didn't seriously try to sign veterans Kurt Warner, Brad Johnson or Jay Fiedler in the off-season.

Angelo defended his position Saturday.

"We would've initiated something, but we also were honest with them and told them that they'd be competing with [Grossman and Hutchinson]," Angelo said.

"We made an investment with Grossman. We felt very confident about his leadership abilities. It wasn't a bad decision; it was bad luck."

Grossman has certainly had his share of that, which is why his teammates and coaches felt so badly in the visitors' locker room in St. Louis late Friday.

"My prayers go out to Rex and his family," said receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who had quickly bonded with Grossman on and off the field. "I know how much he wanted to play this season. His mother, father and wife were looking forward to watching him play. But the truth is he's not going to be able to. What do you do at this point? You move on. We have two very capable quarterbacks who have had two good preseason games."

Muhammad is referring to Hutchinson and Orton, the latter of whom directed two drives that resulted in fourth-quarter field goals against St. Louis. Both of those players will get more reps at practice Sunday, the team's first since Grossman's injury.

Kurt Kittner, who knows Turner's system well from playing under him at Illinois, also will take snaps.

"We feel good about the quarterbacks we have," Turner said. "The guys have confidence in Chad. Kyle has a tremendous future. Kurt stepped in and did some good things. He knows this system probably better than most. We'll see, but I have confidence with who we have."

Even Payton Manning struggled some as a rookie, but Orton is extremely confident after going 14-for-21 for 268 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his first two exhibitions.

"I'm confident that if I play, I'll play well," Orton said. "I'm not going to go out and play badly. I haven't done that for four years of college and I don't plan on doing that now.

"There's not a whole lot of pressure put on the quarterback in this offense. Obviously, you have to be able to throw the ball well and make good reads. You can't be a negative at that position.

"But I think this offense is one offense that takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback."

There's more than enough pressure going around now that Grossman has endured yet another significant injury. The entire organization is feeling it, and Angelo knows it.

"We had a kick in the gut," Angelo said. "But we're out of our funk."

Time will tell if the Bears come out of the clouds and see sunlight again.